Klarinet Archive - Posting 000213.txt from 2007/12

From: Tony Pay <tony.p@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Legato Finger Motion
Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:05:14 -0500

On 31 Dec, "K S" <krsmav@-----.com> wrote:

> Who else has thought about this or is working on it?

Yes, always -- but I'd say it depends critically on what you think the music
wants.

You sometimes want to *avoid* super-legato in passagework -- I remember
finding playing the Weber Quintet on a Selmer 10S much *too* legato compared
with the clarity and fizz I could achieve on a Buffet R13, and I therefore
needed to be more vigorous with my finger movements, and use other things
like support mechanisms, too, to counterbalance that quality of the
instrument.

And what you might call a 'pianoforte' legato is what I'd say is required in
the upward (legato) arpeggio at the beginning of Fantasiestuecke III, where
fast finger movements actually *help* -- and later in the middle section of
that movement too, where such a 'non-legato' legato for the tune in rhythmic
unison with the octave bass in the piano can be musically justified.

Obviously, you want to be able to play really legato at times, and slow
finger movement is a part of that technique. But it's not to be abstracted
and lauded apart from one's musical intentions -- like most technique.

Tony
--

_________ Tony Pay
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